


Comin' Outta Left Field

by imnotbuck



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Journalism, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24524794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imnotbuck/pseuds/imnotbuck
Summary: Journalist Bucky accidentally makes a slip up on a live stream interview.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 8
Kudos: 120





	Comin' Outta Left Field

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr [@fuckyfarnes](https://fuckyfarnes.tumblr.com/) and please read the end note!!

“Steve wants to be a daddy?” Bucky asked and inwardly cringed. The questions Darcy had written for him were designed solely for a fluff piece, which was just  _ great. _ He didn't even want to be the one doing the interview - he was a print type of guy - but he'd been hustled into it and magically gifted with the most embarrassing questions ever. The worst part was that the interview was streaming live on their website so he had no way to avoid the question without an awkward pause. 

Steve’s eyebrow rose quizzically but he replied, “Steve does wanna be a daddy someday.” 

_ You can be mine if you want, _ he thought and shuffled his notecards. When the entire room went silent, he looked up and saw Steve gaping at him. 

Oh dear lord, he hadn't left that as just a thought. He'd actually said it out loud. His face heated up immediately and he wished he could sink into the ground never to be seen again. 

Steve was still looking at him with shock written all over his features, but at least he'd closed his mouth. 

“I umm,” Bucky stammered and tried to think of something else to stay. His mind was completely blank. “Uh, it was really great meeting you!” he said and offered his hand to Steve but yanked it back quickly. Touching him would definitely be a bad thing at that point. “Bye!” he practically shouted and stood up too fast, managing to knock his foot against a leg of the small table in between them. 

“Fucking Christ that hurts,” he hissed and limped away as fast as humanly possible, not giving Steve a second glance. 

*

The next day Bucky walked into work with his head held high. He ignored the stares and occasional chuckles, and made his way to his cubicle on the fifth floor. It wasn't easy to let things roll off of him but he managed to succeed without a single break. In the safety of his space he could relax and get to work on writing an article, which was why he'd started working at  _ Brooklyn Beat  _ in the first place. He didn't want to work on any interviews that weren't in print ever again, maybe not even on regular interviews. His career wasn't based off of his people skills.

If it were, he'd be unemployed for life. 

“Barnes,” Frank Castle said as he walked by pushing the mail cart. “Page wants to see ya.” 

Bucky paled and scratched at his stumble. He hadn't shaved that morning so  _ of course  _ Karen wanted to see him. He knew what was going to happen; he was going to get fired for swearing on air and for making a fool of the paper with his unintentional comment. He'd never be able to get another job in his field because of how badly he'd messed up and turned himself into a huge joke. Karen was going to tear him a new one for the scandal.

“Morning Karen,” Bucky said warily. 

Karen looked up from her computer and smiled at him. Hopefully that was a good sign and meant he wasn't losing his job. “Your interview with Steve Rogers is trending on Twitter and has been for almost 24 hours,” she said excitedly. “Our website is seeing an incredible amount of traffic because of it.”

Bucky wanted to crawl into a hole and die; he knew that a lot of people were bound to see it, but he had hoped that it would only be talked about for a little while and then dropped so that he could forget it ever happened. Obviously that wasn't going to be the case. 

“I want to apologize for my lack of professionalism,” he said. “I'm very sorry for screwing up that interview, I promise that should I interview anyone else, I'll do better.”

“James, did you not hear me?” she asked. “Your interview is a hit!” 

“I don't want people to think I'm a joke,” he replied. “I've worked hard for my position here and I want a reputation that shows that.” 

“It was a fun interview,” she sighed. “The world is, pardon the language, a shitshow right now and a little fun every so often is good.” 

“I agree, but it was embarrassing for both me and Steve.” 

Karen’s eyebrow quirked. “He told you that?” 

“No, but I'm sure he feels that way.” 

“Reporters don't just make assumptions and don't bother getting concrete facts,” she said and grabbed an envelope off of her desk. “Mr. Rogers left this for you - and I don't think that it's informing you of a lawsuit.” 

He took it from her and held it carefully in his hands. “Umm… I'm going to go see what this is about.” 

She chuckled and waved him off. “Have fun.” 

Bucky dashed back to his desk and tore into the envelope with shaking hands. There was a sticky note shaped like a cloud inside and nothing else. On the note was a phone number and a scribbled message. 

_ How about we talk about that daddy thing in private sometime? (I hope your foot’s okay!!) - S.R _

“Holy shit,” he gasped and stared at the note to make sure it was real. Someone had to be playing a joke on him; there was no way that the Oscar award winning actor and director  _ Steve Rogers  _ would've given him his number, especially not after that train wreck of an interview. It was a joke.

It had to be a joke.

Didn't it? 

“Fuck,” he muttered. “This isn't happening.” He put the note down and signed onto his desktop computer, intending to work on another article, but failed to do anything other than think of what would happen if the note were real. Was Steve Rogers actually into the idea of being his  _ daddy _ ? Truth be told, the idea was appealing in a fantasy but not in real life; he was going to be letting Steve down if it were real. If not, he would make a fool of himself without anyone actually knowing that he believed in a note that was so obviously fake. 

Once Bucky’s lunch break rolled around, he found himself running out of the office and into the stairwell. He hid in one of the corners, took out the note and his phone, and dialed without hesitation. He had to do it quickly or else he never would, and the validity of the note would bother him forever. 

“Hello?” a man answered on the fourth ring. 

“Umm… are you,” Bucky sighed. “Who is this?”

“Normally the caller introduces themself first,” the man replied.

“I- I'm James Barnes, a reporter from Brooklyn Beat,” he tried his best to sound sure of himself. “I'm following up on a story I've been working on -”

“I thought it was you! I'm glad you got my note; it's Steve, by the way.” 

_ Oh dear god.. _

“About the whole… uh… daddy thing,” he started. “I want to apologize for that. I can’t imagine how embarrassing that must have been for you and I know you take your career very seriously.”

“I left you the note because I wanted the chance to tell you that it’s totally okay,” Steve replied. “I’ve been to a lot of interviews where the interviewer takes me way too seriously, I appreciate the break from that.”

The relief Bucky felt was indescribable. He was so glad that Steve wasn’t as furious as he’d be himself and immediately relaxed. “I’m so so happy to hear that.” 

Steve chuckled and Bucky couldn’t help but smile at the sound. 

“I was thinking,” Steve started, “Maybe we could meet up again? I’d love to talk to you some more.”

“Another interview?” Karen would be incredibly pleased at that. Brooklyn Beat could definitely use the publicity of another interview with Steve Rogers and Bucky’s career would definitely benefit. Sure he didn’t like doing fluff pieces but something about Steve told him that it would be more than that this time. 

“Sure we could do that,” he replied, sounding nervous. “But I meant uhh… something more private?”

He couldn’t believe his ears at that moment. Was Steve really asking him out on a date? It sounded like he was having a bit of a hard time with it which was pretty unbelievable so Bucky decided to take a deep breath and make the plunge. 

“Do you want to get a coffee or dinner with me sometime?”

“Yes!” Steve answered instantly. “I mean yeah that sounds good to me.”

Bucky grinned to himself and his heart hammered, excitement building within him. “I’ll have my people call your people then.”

“Perfect,” Steve said. “I’ll talk to you later?”

“You bet. Bye Steve.”

“Bye, James.” He said and hung up before Bucky could correct him. It didn’t matter though, there would be more than enough time to correct him on their date. 

“Someone looks happy,” Frank said and smirked at him. “Did you find yourself a daddy then?”

Was it too early to call it a day?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, this is my first stevebucky fic in a long time so I'm excited to see your response to it. More importantly, I wanted to give some lightness to all of you given the state of the world right now but I wanted to share some important resources. 
> 
> I am currently considering opening writing commissions in exchange for donations various black lives matter organisations, specifically bail funds and gofundmes for individuals who are in need of help during this time. If you are interested please visit my tumblr as linked in the beginning note and leave me an ask or comment if this is something that interests you. I will be leaving a link to more information for the movement below this so please check that out. Please don't acknowledge this if you have anything negative to say.
> 
> Thank you and have a good day!!
> 
> [Resource!!](https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/)


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